Study of the peak effect phenomenon in single crystals of 2H-NbSe2

The weakly pinned single crystals of the hexagonal 2H-NbSe₂ compound have emerged as prototypes for determining and characterizing the phase boundaries of the possible order-disorder transformations in the vortex matter. We present here a status report based on the ac and dc magnetization measurements of the peak effect phenomenon in three crystals of 2H-NbSe₂, in which the critical current densities vary over two orders of magnitude. We sketch the generic vortex phase diagram of a weakly pinned superconductor, which also utilizes theoretical proposals. We also establish the connection between the metastability effects and pinning.     

Membranes obtained by preirradiation grafting of acrylic acid onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene–perfluorovinyl ether)

Some properties of the membranes obtained by preirradiation grafting of acrylic acid onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene-perfluorovinyl ether) copolymer (PFA) films have been investigated. The dimensional change caused by grafting and swelling behavior, water uptake, electrical conductivity, and mechanical properties of the grafted films were found to increase as the grafting proceeds. The influence of the preparation conditions (such as preirradiation dose, monomer concentration, grafting temperature, and film thickness) on those properties was studied. These properties were found to be dependent mainly on the degree of grafting regardless of grafting conditions, except at higher monomer concentration (>40 wt %). The electric conductivity and mechanical properties for the membranes obtained at higher AAc concentrations were lower than those obtained at lower ones. Analysis by x-ray microscopy of the grafted films revealed that the grafting begins at the part close to the film surface and proceeds into the central part with progressive diffusion of monomer to give finally homogeneous distribution of the electrolytes in the whole bulk of the polymer. The membranes show good electrochemical and mechanical properties which make them acceptable for practical use as cation-exchange membranes.     

Radiation-induced graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto fluorinated polymers. I. Kinetic study on the grafting onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene) copolymer

Direct radiation-induced grafting of aqueous acrylic acid (AAc) onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene) (ET) film has been studied. The effect of grafting conditions such as monomer concentration, exposure dose, dose rate, and film thickness on the grafting yield was investigated. The dependence of the grafting rate on monomer concentration was found to be 1.2 order. The dependence of the grafting rate on dose rate was found to be 0.6 order regardless of the film thickness. The relationship between the grafting rate and film thickness gave a negative first-order dependence. The results suggest that the grafting process is mainly controlled by monomer diffusion, and it was concluded that this grafting system proceeded by the front mechanism. The swelling behavior increases linearly with degree of grafting. The electrical conductivity and mechanical properties for the trunk and grafted polymer were investigated at different irradiation doses in air and under vacuum irradiations. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Synthesis and characterization of PVP/AAc copolymer hydrogel and its applications in the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution

Chelating poly(vinylpyrrolidone/acrylic acid) (PVP/AAc) copolymer hydrogels were prepared by radiation-induced copolymerization. The effects of preparation parameters such as PVP content in the hydrogel and irradiation dose on the swelling behavior of the hydrogel were studied. The pH dependent swelling was investigated. The thermal stability of the prepared hydrogel and the metal chelated ones was characterized by TGA. The removal of Fe(III), Cu(II), and Mn(II) from aqueous solution by the prepared PVP/AAc chelating hydrogel was examined by batch equilibration technique. The influence of treatment time, pH, and the initial feed concentration on the amount of the metal ions removed was studied. The results show that the removal of the metal ion followed the following order: Fe(III) > Cu(II) > Mn(II). The amounts of the removed metal ions increased with treatment time and pH of the medium. To re-use the hydrogel, the metal ions were stripped by using 2 N HCl.     

Preparation and Characterization of Poly Vinyl Alcohol/Poly Vinyl Pyrrolidone/Clay Based Nanocomposite by Gamma Irradiation

A series of PVA/PVP/clay nanocomposite were prepared by gamma irradiation with different clay contents of (0.15, 0.3, 1, 1.5, 3 and 5 wt%). The gelation content and swelling behavior were investigated. The morphology and structure of PVA/PVP/clay nanocomposite and dispersion of the clay nanoparticles in the polymeric matrix were examined by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The introduction of clay into polymeric matrix was investigated by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) and Transmission electron microscope (TEM). It is observed that, the increase of the clay content causes a decrease in the swelling percent. The thermal stability studies confirmed that the introduction of clay lead to an increase in the thermal stability. The TEM results showed that the clay nanoparticles are interchelated or exfoliated in the polymeric matrix. Some desirable characteristics such as relatively good swelling and excellent barrier capability against microbe penetration suggested that PVA/PVP/clay nanocomposite can be a good candidate as a wound dressing.     

Novel nonperipheral octa-3-hydroxypropylthio substituted metallo-phthalocyanines: synthesis,characterization, and investigation of their electrochemical,photochemical and computational properties

The current study describes the synthesis, electrochemical, computational, and photochemical properties of octa (3-hydroxypropylthio) substituted cobalt (II) ( 4 ), copper (II) ( 5 ), nickel (II) ( 6 ) and zinc(II) ( 7 ) phthalocyanine derivatives. These novel compounds were characterized by elemental analysis,¹H,¹³C NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis, and MS. The redox behaviors of these metallo-phthalocyanines were investigated by the cyclic voltammetric method. The optimized molecular structure and gauge-including atomic orbital (GIAO)¹H and¹³C NMR chemical shift values of these phthalocyanines in the ground state had been calculated by using B3LYP/6–31G(d,p) basis set. The outcomes of the optimized molecular structure were given and compared with the experimental NMR values. The photochemical properties including photodegradation and singlet oxygen generation of zinc(II) phthalocyanine were studied in DMSO solution for the determination of its photosensitizer behaviors.     

Thermal performance of a parabolic trough collector with a longitudinal externally finned absorber

A new absorber configuration has been proposed for parabolic trough solar collector. It consists of a tube through which the working fluid flows. The tube is attached externally to two longitudinal fins which are directed normally to the collector aperture. The absorber aggregate, tube and fins, is encased by a transparent envelope. The heat balance equations for such absorber have been derived and solved. Based on these analyses a study has been carried out on an absorber located in Alexandria (31^o N latitude) in Egypt to show the effect of its geometrical parameters on the thermal performance. The results of the study show that a wide range of concentration ratios, higher than the smallest ideal ones, can be chosen. For each concentration ratio, there is a corresponding fin height to absorber tube diameter ratio which maximizes the collector efficiency. The greatest collector efficiency is achieved when the concentration ratio is 1.7 of the smallest ideal one and the ratio of fin height to tube diameter in 0.7. In this case the collector efficiency increases in average ca. 3% over that when using a conventional absorber.     

Cytotoxic cembranoids from the Red Sea soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum

One new cembrane diterpene, 2R,7R,8R-dihydroxydeepoxysarcophine (1), together with three known compounds, 7alpha,8beta-dihydroxydeepoxysarcophine (2), 7beta-acetoxy-8alpha-hydroxydeepoxysarcophine (3), and sarcophine (4), have been isolated from the Red Sea soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum. Their structures were determined using 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. 7beta-Acetoxy-8alpha-hydroxydeepoxysarcophine (3) exhibits cytotoxic activity against HepG2, HCT-116, and HeLa cells with IC50 values of 3.6, 2.3, and 6.7 microg/mL, respectively.     

Study of magnetoresistance and conductance of bicrystal grain boundary in La0.67Ba0.33MnO3 thin film

La_0.67Ba_0.33MnO₃ (LBMO) thin film is deposited on a 36.7°C SrTiO₃ bicrystal substrate using laser ablation technique. A microbridge is created across bicrystal grain boundary and its characteristics are compared with a microbridge on the LBMO film having no grain boundary. Presence of grain boundary exhibits substantial magnetoresistance ratio (MRR) in the low field and low temperature region. Bicrystal grain boundary contribution in MRR disappears at temperature T>175 K. At low temperature, I-V characteristic of the microbridge across bicrystal grain boundary is nonlinear. Analysis of temperature dependence of dynamic conductance-voltage characteristics of the bicrystal grain boundary indicates that at low temperatures (T<175 K) carrier transport across the grain boundary in LBMO film is dominated by inelastic tunneling via pairs of manganese atoms and tunneling through disordered oxides. At higher temperatures (T>175 K), magnetic scattering process is dominating. Decrease of bicrystal grain boundary contribution in magnetoresistance with the increase in temperature is due to enhanced spin-flip scattering process.